By Julie Hatcher - marine awareness officer, Dorset Wildlife Trust

There are proposals to drill an exploratory well for oil six kilometres out to sea in Poole Bay but has the wildlife in the area been properly considered? Dorset Wildlife Trust is concerned that the effects of the drilling on marine animals in the vicinity and their undersea habitats have not been adequately thought-out.

The exploration zone sits within the proposed Solent and Dorset Coast Special Protection Area which is being considered for its internationally important populations of seabirds, namely the common tern, Sandwich tern and little tern.

This area provides them with ideal habitat for plunge diving for fish and is close enough to their breeding colonies. Poole Bay is also a spawning area for many commercially important fish and long-lived species, including cod, lemon sole, black bream, sand eel and cuttlefish, potentially causing huge disturbance to their reproduction cycle. It is an important area for commercial fishing and shellfish farming which would be decimated if there was any pollution and it provides a habitat for the short-snouted seahorse, one of only two types of seahorse found in the UK.

Areas of concern include the devastating pollution that might arise from a ‘blow out’ (such as happened on a much bigger scale in the Gulf of Mexico). Even if the risk of an oil spill was assessed as low, it could be devastating for this very special wildlife in both the short and long term, with the potential to wipe out entire species from the wider area. Equally concerning is the potential impact the drilling itself will have on the marine wildlife and habitats in Poole Bay, many of which will be vulnerable to harm from vibration and noise, and chemicals being released as a result of the exploratory drilling.

Dorset Wildlife Trust believes that the effort, time, money and research necessary to take forward these plans would be better used in seeking alternative renewable energy production and at the very least to avoid drilling in this sensitive area.

You can read more about our position on this subject at www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/news